Thursday, July 12, 2007

Over the past two weeks I've been doing some work for the University of Toronto, (a large international university with over 70,000 students in three campuses). The first two projects were print ads and a credit card design, (utilizing a character I created for them.)

But this last project entailed doing an ad for the student bookstore. Apparently the engineering school uses Lady Godiva as its mascot, so the request was to feature her somehow. (The Lady's legend is to have told her husband, the King of England that she would ride though London nude, if he lowered taxes for the people of England....he had refused everything else up to that point -- but upon hearing her proposal, agreed. And so she made her now famous ride, with only her long hair obscuring her bits and pieces. The citizens paid less tax and also got to enjoy a royal streaker on horseback.)

I thought I'd post the rough sketch and the finished art...showing the changes that were made along the way. The nurse's hat (which was initially suggested to show her being helpful), was taken out, as it was decided I had drawn the good lady with enough of a look of caring and concern. Next, we decided the student's eyes, which were X's in the sketch, risked making the student look like he was dead. To make him look simply stunned, I drew him cross-eyed. Last, I thought I'd spruce up the horse's adornments a little.

To be honest, I had the most fun sketching her nude form and then strategically drawing her hair so that it covered just enough of her body. ;)